It has been tested time and time again to rid it of any possible bugs before being used.

An edge is something that has been tested to the point that we already understand it has a high probability of working for us; meaning that the upside is always higher than the downside.

An edge in the markets, and is something that has been backtested again and again to give you an understanding of whether or not it will work.

It must have some underlying principle(one that makes complete sense) explaining why it should work.

For instance, it can be based on a linkage between two completely different markets, such as Stocks and Bonds.

i.e. One can build a model based off of the tendency for overall stock prices to rise when bond yields fall (bond yields are falling generally shows that investors are willing to take on more risk and that they “believe” in the economy thus, somewhat explaining why they would invest in a highly risky investment such as a stock).

Developing a skill is akin to developing an edge

Here’s the funny part about this post, it isn’t completely tied to the market; I’m about to relay to you an analogy that isn’t based on stocks and bonds.

If I fail (I never truly fail by the way), I want it to be of my own accord. I want it to be because I did something wrong that I can look back on and learn from.

I refuse to let my failure depend upon the actions of another (or several other) individuals; there is way too much risk involved in that.

Having a skill (one that we truly know how to utilize) get rid of that risk(kind of)

I don’t believe that any true comfort can be gained from indefinitely working under another individual.

Think of a workplace where we all work with other individuals as a clock and consider yourself a cog. Now, in order to make this example really pop to us, we’re going to have to give a bit of life to these cogs.

We, as cogs understand that the fluid functioning of the clock is one that depends entirely on the way that the other individuals behave; if they do their jobs at a subpar level, the clock will slow down and, the individual who owns it (the consumer), will begin to seek a replacement.

*this analogy may not work the best simply because of what I’m going to say next

If the other individual cogs work as hard as they can, the machine as a whole will work at tip-top efficiency and, may even speed up a bit (this can cause the clock to be replaced in real life but, for the sake of this beautiful analogy it must be looked over).

Do you understand how worried I would constantly be if I understood that my entire livelihood depended on the actions of several other individuals?

Everything, from the actions that my “superiors” would take in response to my colleague’s behavior, to the work that would be thrown on me if my colleagues didn’t work efficiently; I do not enjoy it.

Having a deep knowledge of something/edge/ skill may not make life any easier but it does make us self-sufficient; which gets rid of some of the risks that I associate with placing all of my earning potential in the hands of another individual.

Conclusion

There isn’t anything wrong with working under other people; some may just not have the stress-tolerance that having to completely fend for yourself requires.

This comes down to understanding yourself (while not limiting yourself due to self-doubt).

I know that this post kind of drifted a bit but, it the premise behind the words still remains clear; to be able to feed yourself consistently, one must find an edge one that is repeatable.